3. Organic cat repellent: If you want to keep cats out of your plants and garden, coﬀee grounds will do the trick.

4. Mushroom growing soil: Inoculated mushroom plugs nestled into moist coﬀee grounds can mean a great mushroom crop for you. Put grounds in a glass container and press a mushroom plug into them, repeating with more grounds and mushroom plugs until you run out of room. If you see mold, just remove it.

5. Bait worm life support: Add coﬀee grounds to soil to help keep bait worms alive longer. Vermicomposters can feed coﬀee grounds to the worms. Just be careful, since grounds are acidic. Too much isn’t good for those wigglers.

IN THE HOUSE

6. Closet deodorizer: Old pantyhose plus coﬀee grounds equals

a sachet to keep your closet free of odors. Stick a sachet of dried coﬀee grounds into a smelly pair of shoes to get rid of the stink. Scrub your hands with spent coﬀee grounds after chopping onion or garlic to get the smell oﬀ of your skin

7. Refrigerator and freezer deodorizer: Place ground in a small cup and in the fridge or freezer much as you would baking soda.

8. Pin cushion ﬁller: If you still use pin cushions (like I do), dried coﬀee grounds are a great ﬁller for the cushions.

9. Abrasive cleaner: For stubborn grease and stains on pots and pans, coﬀee grounds really get in there and do the job.

10. Dust deﬂector: We’re talking about the ﬁreplace here; sprinkle coﬀee grounds on ashes before you start collecting them to minimize the dust.

11. Furniture scratch toucher upper: Use a Q-tip and coﬀee grounds to ﬁll in scratches on wooden furniture–remember the coﬀee will stain the wood a bit, so don’t use it on something that won’t match.

12. Drain cleaner: Be careful with this one as you don’t want to clog your drain with coﬀee grounds! *But* to counter odors coming from your drain, you can pour about a half a cup of coﬀee grains down the drain followed by boiling hot water to get the grounds through. No more smells!

13. Meat tenderizer: This is one for leftover coﬀee as opposed to coﬀee grounds; soak steaks in coﬀee to tenderize and for an interesting added ﬂavor.

17. Hair rinse: After washing your hair, rub in coﬀee grounds for shine, softness, and even a bit of color for those of you who are dark-haired; remember coﬀee grounds act as a dye, so if you have light hair, unless you want highlights, this one isn’t for you.

18. Cellulite rub: Mix one tablespoon of olive oil with 1/4 cup moist, warm coﬀee grounds and spread on cellulite hot spots. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap, leave on for a few minutes, and then remove wrap and shower as normal. For best results, do a couple times a week.